Thursday, 13 November 2014

Since my last update from
Rathlin, I have spent a total of 9 days on the island, adding a further 14
species to my year list. The fact that 5 of these were my first patch records
was encouraging, though sadly another autumn goes by without troubling the multiplier
effect column on the patch birding score sheet.

On your bike...

With little of note in the
gardens on 27th September, I spent a bit of time between Ushet Lough
and Rue Point.Checking through the 60
or so Greylag here finally produced 4 Pink-footed
Geese (100) resting on the lough - a species I somehow failed to see last
year.A mass of seabirds were feeding in
large groups off Rue Point, including some Manx Shearwaters.Eventually, a couple of Arctic Skuas (101) were seen in hot pursuit of Kittiwakes.Two Arctic
Terns (102) stood out amongst the hoards of dip feeding gulls and were a
surprise addition to the year list having failed to encounter any around the
patch for a few years now (through a lack of seawatching).Elsewhere, 4 Swallows were feeding over the
harbour and 12 Twite were feeding in one of their favourite spots at the base
of the East Pier.Once back in
Ballycastle, I located single first winter and second winter Mediterranean
Gulls around the harbour.I will reveal
the reason for mentioning this later.

I stayed on the island for four
days in early October recording a total of 83 species, including 8 further year
ticks.Weather conditions were fairly decent,
except for an almighty storm coming in from the Atlantic during the 5th and
overnight on the 6th.This
resulted in strong SE winds and produced some decent birds.

A seawatch from the East Light on
the 4th looked like a complete waste of time, until I connected with
a lone Sooty
Shearwater (103) heading east.A long awaited patch tick!With
this, I renewed my efforts and single Arctic Skuas and Great Northern Divers
soon flew west.I scanned the birds at
the base of the cliffs with my bins and picked out a “white-winged gull with a
red bill”, which I eventually locked onto through the scope.It turned out to be a 2nd winter Mediterranean Gull
(104) – another patch tick!

The Twite flock in Church Bay had
now increased to 15 and the Ushet Lough to Rue Point area again produced some
decent birds; none more so than a male Hen
Harrier seen hunting along the far side of the lough.Also in the area were 5 Chough, a male Grey Wagtail and a tame juvenile Brent Goose feeding
close to the South Light.As it was having
its fill of grass, I thought it rude not to join it for lunch.Other notable sightings on the 4th
were 80 Goldfinches, 1 Whimbrel, 1 Wheatear, 22 Snipe and 8 Goldcrest.

Not a care in the World

I began the following morning
with a 2.5 hour seawatch from the East Light, which produced 55 Manx
Shearwaters, 5 Arctic Skuas, 1 Pomarine
Skua (105), 1 Arctic Tern, 1 Common Scoter, 10 Barnacle Geese (106), 6 Whooper Swans, 3 Puffins, 2 Red-throated
Diver (107), 1 Great Northern Diver and a patch tick Little Gull (108).All of which were very pleasing, especially
the Little Gull – a nice juvenile tagging along with a flock of
Kittiwakes.Had I thought to put on some
extra layers I would have stayed longer, but I headed off to get warmed
up.Not a lot else was seen the rest of
the day as the storm moved in, though 3 Kestrels and a few Reed Buntings may
have been new arrivals.

In a rare departure outside the
patch boundaries, I made my way to the west end of the island early the next
morning which only served to remind me why I don’t normally go there. Saying
that, there are some great looking spots that are well worth checking,
especially the last gardens before the lighthouse – which had about 75
Chaffinches and a dozen thrushes in them.

Keeble cottage at the west end and yes I did check those nettles for Lancy...

Once safely back in more familiar
surroundings, the most obvious impact of the overnight storm was that some 2000
Kittiwakes and 250 Black-headed Gulls had been forced close to shore between
the West Pier and Mill Bay.I set up the
scope outside the hostel and began grilling the flock (for a Sab’s) and managed
to pick out two Mediterranean Gulls
– a first and second winter.I then
realised that not only was the second winter probably the same bird I had seen
on 4th but both were likely the same birds I had seen in Ballycastle
Harbour on 27th September.

After lunch, the winds died down
and the sun came out, so I set off for a circuit of the gardens.There had been an obvious arrival of
migrants, with Blackbirds and Song Thrushes most prominent.The east end gardens held 2 Chiffchaffs, 2
Blackcaps, 18 Goldcrests and several flocks of Golden Plover (109) flew south overhead.Three Swallows were at Ushet Lough and I
watched a young Merlin fly straight out to sea at Rue Point – migration in
action.

The final day of the trip (7th
October) was spent thoroughly checking all the usual spots for passerine
migrants. A couple of Redwings were amongst decent counts of 47 Blackbirds and
28 Song Thrushes and the Goldcrest tally had increased to 28.The ditch to the south-east of Ushet Lough
(which I have earmarked for a Barred Warbler) held 2 Blackcaps and a
Chiffchaff. The only place I had yet to check was the lane at Ballycarry Pool
and I’m glad I did because a Garden
Warbler (110) was found sunning itself there! The very strong light made it
look scarily pale at first but as I moved slightly closer it began moving
around giving me a good look at its (sadly unmarked) under-tail coverts.So in just two years of coverage I’ve had
Mealy Redpoll, Spotted Flycatcher, Redstart, Garden Warbler and Whinchat in
this 100m stretch of hedge.Not bad for
starters.

Sunset at Mill Bay

I’m struggling to find any
highlights worth mentioning from my visit on 13th October, a Fieldfare (111) flying over
Craigmacagan Lough was new for the year and a Pomarine Skua off Rue Point were about
the best I could manage.The Twite flock
had increased to 20 birds and a Wheatear was at Mill Bay.

I had a much better day on 17th
October, which began with a trek up to the Coastguards Hut in search of rare
buntings.I failed in this regard but
did manage to locate a patch tick Tree Pipit (112) which flew over calling before
landing briefly on an old stone wall.The grounds of the East Light held a Grey Wagtail and a Lapwing.It was also a good day for flyover Whooper
Swans; a total of 47 birds were seen passing through during the day.More than 30 Redwing were present, most of
which were in the hedge at Ballycarry Pool.A group of 3 Barnacle Geese were in much the same spot as the friendly
Brent Goose a few weeks ago and it was good to see that all 5 Chough were still on the island.I returned to the ferry via Mill Bay and
spotted an Arctic Tern roosting on the rocks, which became the first tern of
any species, I’ve actually seen land on Rathlin!

Taking a break at Coastguards

Barnacle Geese at Rue Point

I didn’t make it over again until
1st November, which was a particularly depressing day on patch owing
to strong southerly winds.Still it was
nice to see the female Pochard back
at Ally Lough for another winter.Two
Whooper Swans were at Ushet Lough and a late Wheatear at the East Light.

My next visit on 8th
November was one of those days you felt something good might appear at any
moment – a Goldeneye at
Craigmacagan, a Long-tailed Duck at
Rue Point and a pair of Red-breasted
Mergansers in the harbour (doubling my previous high count for this
species!) were all decent birds for Rathlin.The distinctly Scandinavian vibe continued with counts of 39 Blackbirds,
36 Robins and numerous Wrens and Stonechats.As I sat in Church Bay eating lunch I noticed half a dozen hooded crows
appearing to dive bomb something in the distance – I thought no more of it
until 10 minutes later, when I could hear lots of pipits calling.I looked up to see a Short-earedOwl (113) cruising along the road
above the harbour.Given the apparent
recent influx in eastern England, this species was well and
truly on my radar. However, it’s not
often these hoped for species fall into place, the Desert Wheatear I had
thought about the night before certainly didn’t!This brought my patch life list to 149
species.I wonder what will be next.